USA > Indiana > Newton County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
USA > Indiana > Benton County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
USA > Indiana > Pulaski County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
USA > Indiana > Jasper County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
USA > Indiana > White County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
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When a lad of seven years Joseph F. Warner accompanied his parents
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on their removal to Champaign county, Illinois, where he was reared to man- hood on his father's farm. He acquired his education in the public schools of that county, but like many of the " boys in blue " of the civil war, he sacri- ficed his educational privileges in order to enter his country's service. In February, 1864, when a beardless youth of less than eighteen years, he became a member of Company F, Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and was at once assigned to active duty at the front. His regiment became a part of Sherman's army, and with that command Mr. Warner participated in the stirring events of the final campaign of the great civil strife. He went on the famous " march to the sea," participating in all of the victories of that irresistible army in its triumphal march through the heart of the Confed- eracy. He took part in the battles of Resaca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Kenesaw mountain, the siege and capture of Atlanta, the battles of Jones- boro, Lovejoy's Station, Macon, Fayetteville, Kingston, Goldsboro and Raleigh, and also bore his part in the less exciting but just as arduous service that comes on the line of march or when in camp. In marching through an enemy's country the column must be protected from sudden attack by flank- ers at the sides of the marching army and skirmishers in front and rear, who are in constant peril from men doing like service in the enemy's columns. Also at night when the wayworn and weary troops are gaining needed rest in sleep, a picket line must be maintained, and those on this duty are the spec- ial mark of the enemy. In all such service our youthful hero bore his part, and with his command eventually reached Richmond to find that General Grant had taken possession of the Confederate capital, that Lee's army had surrendered and that the war was at an end. Then came the grand marshal- ing of the victorious armies near Washington and the final review of troops in the city-the grandest military pageant that the New World has ever wit- nessed, a fitting finale to the closing scenes of the four-years struggle for freedom and union.
The exhausting marches and other hardships incident to war had so af- fected the health of Mr. Warner that at the time of receiving his final dis- charge, July 20, 1865, he weighed but eighty-three pounds! Yet he had remained at the front, a true and loyal soldier, manifesting the fortitude and bravery of many a veteran of twice his years. He returned to his home in Champaign county in poor health, but the tender nursing of his devoted mother restored his old-time strength, and he again took up the duties of civil life. In 1874, as before stated, he came to Fowler and established the second general mercantile store in the place, conducting the same with good success for a number of years. His stock and building were then de- stroyed by fire, entailing a serious loss, and he turned his attention to the abstracting and collecting business, forming a partnership with George Gray,
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who is yet in that line. He has made judicious investments in many enter- prises and interests and his capable management and splendid business and executive ability have enabled him to carry all forward to success. In 1894 he purchased a stock of general merchandise at Brooke, Newton county, Indiana, in which he is associated with George R. Dobbin, who assumes general control of the business. They carry a stock valued at from ten to twelve thousand dollars, and receive a liberal patronage. Mr. Warner also owns some business houses in Brooke and some residence property in Fowler. In 1883 he purchased a portion of his present fine farm in the suburbs of Fowler and to the original ten acres has since added seventy- tive acres, upon which he has an elegant home, in the midst of a fine lawn and attractive surroundings.
The home life of Mr. Warner is ideal and his own fireside is to him the dearest spot on earth. It seems that he cannot do too much for the comfort and welfare of his family, and he counts no personal sacrifice too great that will enhance their happiness. He was married February 4, 1885, to Miss Laura B. White, a daughter of Jacob and Julia Ann White, and a native of Pulaski county, Indiana. Five children graced this union, but only three are now living, Herbert F., who was born December 21, 1885, having died at the age of eight months, while Pearle also died at the age of eight months. The others are Laura, born June 3, 1887; Opal, born October 4, 1890; and J. Cecil, born October 7, 1892. The relations between parents and children are ideal, showing love, care and tender watchfulness on the one side; filial duty, obedience and appreciation on the other. The Warner household is also noted for its generous hospitality, which is shared by many friends with- out distinction of wealth or social position, genuine worth of character being the only quality that is taken into consideration in the reception of their guests. Mrs. Warner is a member of the Methodist church, but Mr. Warner is liberal in his religious views, giving to all churches but holding member- ship in none. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, but has never been an office-seeker. He is one of the charter members of Benton Post, No. 25, G. A. R., and has always taken an active interest in the well-being of his comrades in arms. He very properly recognizes the "time limit" placed upon the order, and rejoices that the portals of the Grand Army of the Republic are jealously guarded from intrusion by national and state laws. The bronze button is everywhere recognized as the " insignia, of rank," for it means that the wearer has been tested in the fires of battle for freedom's sake, and Mr. Warner may well be proud to wear the little emblem. He is a man true to every trust reposed in him, honorable in all life relations, and discharges his duties of citizenship with the same loyalty which he manifested when on southern battle-fields he followed the stars and stripes.
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HENRY V. T. HULS.
'Squire Huls is one of the permanent fixtures of Fowler. In his varied business and official connections with the people of Benton county he has become widely and favorably known. Mr. Huls is a native of the great Empire state of the north, New York, born in Yates county, October 30, 1825. His father, James Huls, was of German ancestry, and married Miss Sallie Pruden, who was of English ancestry. In 1843 they removed with their seven children to Illinois, passing through the embryo city of Chicago. Mr. Huls says that at that time he could have bought a desirable lot in the heart of the city for two hundred and fifty dollars, and that "water lots" were almost given away. These have since been rendered tenable by filling, and are now considered as good as any other lots in the vicinity, worth more than half a million dollars each.
The family located on a farm in Kane county, Illinois, where both the parents passed the remainder of their days. Henry spent three years in Iowa, engaged in farming and merchandising, but returned to Illinois in time to join the "boys in blue" from the Sucker state and go to the front of the battle lines in defense of the Union and the legitimate government, enlisting on the 6th of September, 1861, as a member of Company A, Eighth Illinois Cavalry. His regiment was assigned to duty in the Army of the Potomac, and participated in the stirring and protracted experiences of the Peninsular campaign, as the seven days' battle in front of Richmond, the battles of Williamsburg, Yorktown, Hanover Court House and Seven Pines, leading up to the final work of the campaign. The horrors of the Chicka- hominy swamps are fresh in the memory of every Peninsular soldier. The sympathies of the whole country have gone out to our sons on Cuban soil, who did not have all the comforts of home, but they were not obliged to stand picket waist-deep in mud and water, in the miasma-stricken Chicka- hominy, as some of their fathers did. But for the ravages of disease no doubt the maligned and persecuted McClellan would have been successful in the famous Peninsular campaign. Sixty thousand of the army were in hospitals with fever contracted in the horrible swamps; and when the attack came by the united forces of Jackson and Lee he was driven from his position. Then followed the loss of forty thousand brave boys in the Seven Days' battles, and these are a part of our subject's " roll of honor:" Gaines' Mills, Cold Harbor, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill. The last mentioned engagement was one of the most stubbornly contested battles of the war and saved the army from annihilation or capture. Follow- ing this the army encamped at Harrison's Landing on the James river, and at that point Mr. Huls was honorably mustered out by special order from
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the war department. He had served as quartermaster of the Third Battalion of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry from February 11, 1862, until his muster out.
Besides undergoing all the above mentioned remarkable experiences, Mr. Huls has also traveled a great deal throughout the United States, visiting and investigating. After his discharge from the army he followed various pursuits in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and in 1873 became a resident of Fowler, Indiana; and here for many years he has successfully engaged in the milling business, but of late he has served the people as justice of the peace-an office which in towns like Fowler also carries with it the functions of mayor.
He has always taken a great interest in the welfare of his late comrades in arms, and promptly allied himself with the Grand Army of the Republic, a society with a "time limit." The unpretentious bronze button conveys a world of information to the initiated. It is sacredly guarded by the laws of most of the states, and no traitor or convicted coward can wear it or enter the portals of the order it represents. In this society Mr. Huls has always taken an active part, and has held all the principal offices in the local post, which he has also represented at state and national encampments. He served three years as commander of Benton Post No. 25.
In 1848 Mr. Huls was united in matrimony with Miss Elizabeth Moore, who died at Clifton, Iowa, in 1869. By that marriage the following chil- dren were born: John, Herbert, Willie, Jessie, Hattie and Pearl. Her- bert, Jessie and Pearl are living, the others dying in childhood. Herbert is a farmer and stockman in California ; Pearl, now Mrs. McDonald, resides at Hinsdale, California, where they are in good financial circumstances ; and Jessie has been her father's housekeeper for twenty-five years.
The father of our subject was a native of New York state, a farmer the most of his life. Of his nine children six are still living. The eldest, Hugh Huls, died in Wichita, Kansas; Rachel died in 1840, in Steuben county, New York ; and Adeline died in 1852, in Kane county, Illinois. Following are the names and locations of the living : Mary resides at Wheaton, Illinois ; Henry V. T. is next in order of age ; Spencer is a merchant at St. Charles, Illinois ; Angeline, a widow, is a resident of the same place ; John P. lives at West Union, Iowa; and Kate, now Mrs. Palmer, resides at Hinsdale, Illinois.
Mr. Huls, whose name heads this sketch, is a man of strict integrity and uprightness of character. He has seen much of the world and is excep- tionally well informed upon the current events of the day. Though already past the average "three-score and ten" years in age, he is active and energetic, full of life and hope. For twenty-five years his faithful daughter, Miss Jessie, has been his housekeeper and constant companion, an example
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of filial affection and self-sacrificing devotion to a parent seldom witnessed. Mr. Huls speaks of her with much feeling and fully appreciates her kindness and goodness of heart. Says Hanway, a philosophical writer : "Good nature is the beauty of the mind, and, like personal beauty, wins almost without the aid of anything else-sometimes indeed in spite of positive deficiencies."
Personally Mr. Huls possesses a jovial disposition, enjoying the society of entertaining friends and delighting to review, in retrospection, the thrilling scenes of his earlier years ; yet in the experience of men there is no theme quite so entertaining as a review of the happy "by-gone days."
In his political principles Mr. Huls has been a life-long Republican and an active worker for his party's interests. He believes in God and the immortality of the soul, but is too independent in spirit to be bound by church dogmas.
His mother is a descendant of old Holland stock who were prominent in the early settlement of New York and honorably represented in the Revo- lutionary war by her uncle, John Pruden, who served four years under Washington and participated in most of the Revolutionary battles.
WILLIAM H. LEVERING.
A modern philosophical writer has aptly said: "Within yourself lies the cause of whatever enters into your life." It is an undisputed fact that the individual is responsible for the use which he makes of his opportunities, and the man who fails to win the respect of his fellow-men and gain success will, by close self-analyzation, find the cause within himself. Who can say that the influence of the millionaire is greater than that of the peasant ? though his name be oftener upon the tongues of men he may not leave an impress upon their lives. Each one is held accountable for what he makes of his life, and humanity counts life worth little that has not in some way ben- efited others. Every avenue of life offers opportunities for this, and it is often the men most actively concerned in business life who do most for the world's advancement in social, intellectual and moral lines. Of such a class William Hagy Levering is a worthy representative. "Man's inhumanity to man " finds no exemplification in him, and he for many years has devoted his entire time to the work that is prompted by a belief in the brotherhood of the race and its possibilities.
A native of Pennsylvania, William H. Levering was born in Athensville, now Armore, a suburb of Philadelphia, April 19, 1826, his parents being Abraham and Catharine H. (Hagy) Levering, also natives of Philadelphia.
The paternal grandfather, John Levering, was also born in the same
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city, and lived near Fairmount Park. In his home there, all of his children were born, and all were rocked in the cradle wherein rested the little child that in after years became known as Dr. Isaac Watts, the writer of so many beautiful and immortal hymns. The latter was born in Southampton, Eng- land, July 14, 1674, and therefore the cradle, a family heirloom, is one of considerable antiquity. John Levering was a carpenter and builder by trade, following his chosen vocation throughout his entire life with the exception of the period which he spent in the service of his country. He was a Rev- olutionary soldier, held several commissions, including those of captain and major, and after the war was known by the latter title until his death. He carried the colors and served in the battles of Trenton, Princeton and other important engagements. He died July 28, 1832, in the house in which his birth occurred in 1750, and which has now been in possession of the Lever- ing family for a century and a half. He had a large number of children, all of whom lived to a ripe age. The Leverings are of English lineage, and date their residence in America from 1685, when representatives of the name came from Holland to the New World.
The maternal grandfather of our subject, William Hagy, was a native of Pennsylvania and a son of Jacob Hagy, who came to America from Swit- zerland and built one of the first paper-mills in the colonies. Willianı Hagy learned the trade and became one of the first manufacturers of paper in the United States. He reared a large number of children and died at an advanced age.
Abraham Levering, father of our subject, was a butcher of Philadelphia, where he lived until 1854, when he came to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and purchased a large farm in Randolph township, twelve miles from Lafay- ette, known as the Pilot Grove farm. He resided there until about 1858, when he removed to Lafayette, where he lived retired until his death, which occurred in 1866, in his seventy-ninth year. His widow survived him until 1883, and died at the age of ninety-one and a half years. She retained her mental and physical vigor up to the last, and died after a short illness. They were the parents of nine children, -five sons and four daughters, -of whom four sons and two daughters are yet living: Colonel John and Will- iam H., twins; Abraham; T. Jefferson; Hannah, widow of C. H. Garden, of Philadelphia; and Catharine H., wife of David Morgan, of Philadelphia.
In the common schools of Philadelphia William H. Levering acquired his education. Under the direction of his father he learned the butcher's trade, and when only twelve years of age dressed a beef without assistance, and was started in business by his father when fifteen years of age. The elemental strength of his character was shadowed forth by his actions and words. While full of fun and fond of the sports of boyhood, he yet did not
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neglect the serious things of life, and when nine years of age joined a tem- perance society, to the principles of which he has closely adhered through life, never using intoxicants in any form. Neither has he used tobacco, played cards or billiards, nor has he ever uttered an oath; yet these negative habits, as he says, cut him off from none of the real enjoyments of life.
In 1851 he came directly from Philadelphia to Lafayette, with a stock of hats and furs, and established the first "one-price " store in the state. For a few years he conducted business in that line and then sold out to his younger brother (who yet continues the business) and entered into partnership with his twin brother in the real-estate and insurance business. This relation- ship was maintained until 1868, during which time Mr. Levering gained a thor- ough knowledge of real-estate and insurance law. In consequence his serv- ices were so frequently in demand to aid in the adjustment of losses by fire and in other ways that he finally gave up his office work and devoted one- half of his time to that profession, and adjusted claims throughout the United States. Some one has said of him: "It is a notable fact that for more than one-half of his life he has had no occasion to ask for favors or business." His motto has been, " Create a demand for yourself;" and this he has often given young men as his definition of success in life. One of the secrets of his success is probably the system with which he has conducted all business. For forty-two years he has indexed copies of all his letters, keep- ing them under three heads, -personal, professional and religious, -and all letters received by him are indexed and bound in books. Since 1853 his entire correspondence has been done with two gold pens.
Much of Mr. Levering's life has been devoted to Christian work. Early surrounded by beautiful Christian influences, he has kept sacredly the spirit of those early teachings and has conformed his career thereto. He was only twenty-seven months old when first taken to Sunday-school, and he still has in his possession a piece of the little dress which he wore on that occasion. He began leading the singing in Sunday-school when only eight years of age, and for sixty-four years has continued in the work of training the young voices to praise the Creator in music. When a lad of only eleven, he began playing the violoncello by picking up his father's 'cello and practicing unaided until he had mastered the principles thereof. At the age of fourteen he was baptized and became a member of the Lower Merion Baptist church, and at the age of nineteen was elected Sunday-school superintendent, a position which he has occupied almost continuously since. About forty years ago he started out as a pioneer in the work of effecting a spirit of union among all denominations, asking that they unite in the one purpose of serving Christ and building up his kingdom on the earth. For the past twenty-three years, as Sunday-school superintendent, he has kept two colored congregations
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together. He goes among all denominations, and is welcomed by all, and gives his services to the cause gratuitously. He has been president of the County Sunday-school Union for more than twenty years, and has been elected to that office for the remainder of his life. He teaches the Interna- tional series of lessons, but uses the normal method in so doing. He has been an active member of the Indiana Sunday-school Union since its organi- zation in 1865, and served for nine years as its president. He was for nine years a member of the executive committee of the International Sunday- school Association. In 1875 he organized a Sunday-school union in Vir- ginia City, Nevada, said to be the first Sunday-school Union organization on the Sierra Nevada range. For the past seventeen years he has devoted his entire time to the work of Christianity, conducting conventions, institutes and normal assemblies, delivering many Bible lectures, in numerous states, and all without remuneration, defraying his own expenses at all times.
Mr. Levering has also devoted much time to the uplifting of men in his own city. He has been active in the work of temperance and benevolent societies, and for many years was president of the Home of the Friendless. For about fourteen years he has been an associate of the Victoria Institute, or Philosophical Society, of Great Britain, a relation maintained by corre- spondence; but in secret or social organizations he has taken little interest. Entirely unsolicited on his part he was presented a life-directorship in the American Bible Society of New York, by one who appreciated his work. Thus from year to year he has labored on for the uplifting of humanity; and who can measure the beneficial effects of such efforts?
In 1848 Mr. Levering was united in marriage to Miss Irene Smith, who died in June, 1854. They had two children. Mortimer, the elder, now a private banker in Lafayette, married Julia Henderson, a sister of Rev. Dr. Henderson, and they have one son, Richmond. Eleanor, the younger child, is the wife of Rev. C. R. Henderson, a professor in the University of Chicago. They lost their only child, Albert, and now have an adopted daughter, Edna. On the 30th of October, 1855, Mr. Levering married Miss Anna Taylor, of Lafayette, a native of Troy, Ohio, who died October 24, 1867. They had three children: William, who died at the age of seven years; Anna May; and Rozier, who died at the age of three. The daughter is now the wife of Alfred H. Diver, of Lafayette, and they have two children, Mortimer L. and Margaret. On the 8th of September, 1869, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Levering and Miss Anna Levering Latch. They have a very pleasant home in Lafayette, containing a fine library, which indicates the refined literary taste of the owners. This in brief is the history of one of the most prominent and honored citizens of Tippecanoe county, a man whose life has been in accord with all the best and highest principles which
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ennoble and uplift humanity: His work has been performed entirely without thought of self-aggrandizement, his charity without ostentation, and in the innate modesty which is one of his strong characteristics is also found one of the elements which have drawn men toward him in ties of friendship and affection which naught but the bonds of death can sever.
FRANCIS EDWARD LISTER, M. D.
Dr. F. E. Lister, the present president of the White County Medical Society, and for the past two years its representative to the Indiana State Medical Association, is a leading physician and surgeon of this portion of Indiana, his home being in Brookston. Though comparatively a young man, he has already made rapid progress in his profession and now stands among the ablest physicians of the state.
William Nimrod Lister, the Doctor's father, has lived on a farm four miles northeast of Brookston, since 1867, when he purchased eighty acres of land; but to this he has added another tract of equal size. He was born in Indiana, but his father, James W. Lister, was a native of Ohio, and was of Scotch-Irish and English extraction. From his early manhood until his death at thirty-five, he farmed in Carroll county, Indiana. William N. Lis- ter was one of five children, three daughters and two sons. During the civil war he was drafted, but upon being examined he was found to be physi- cally unequal to army life and was dismissed. Politically, he is a Republican, and in religious faith he is a Disciple or Christian. In 1878 he was deprived by death of his loving wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Ann Alkire. She, too, was an Indianian by birth, and a daughter of Samuel Alkire, who was born in Ohio, and early became a citizen of Tippecanoe and three years later of White county, this state. He was the father of several children, three of whom are yet living.
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